Jerry Yang's Next Email to Troops (DRAFT)

The latest board meeting is over, so it’s time for Jerry to send another update to the Yahoo troops. We’re frankly not happy with the communications advice Jerry has gotten with respect to the two previous emails, so we’re going to take the liberty of drafting this one ourselves. Jerry is a sharp, forthright, passionate guy who cares deeply about Yahoo. His previous emails, however–written in all lower-case letters–make him sound casual and circumspect. So here’s what we think he should say:

TO: Yahoos

SUBJECT: Update on Microsoft Offer Deliberations

Dear Yahoos:

The Board and I met on Friday afternoon to continue our discussions about Microsoft’s offer. We discussed two alternatives–first, sitting down with Microsoft to see if we can construct a deal that we believe more fairly values Yahoo, or, second, outsourcing our search-monetization to Google to improve our near-term cash flow and, hopefully, fight Microsoft off.

We have an excellent team of advisors helping us work through these options, and we are committed to reaching a smart, thorough decision by the middle of next week. I am grateful to you for your hard work through a tense and distracting time, and I look forward to updating you again on Wednesday.